c. 1999 Religion News Service
First complaint filed after Methodist same-sex ceremony
(RNS) The first formal complaint has been filed against an Iowa minister who was one of the dozens of clergy who took part in a controversial”holy union”of two lesbians at a United Methodist church in California on Jan. 16.
The Rev. David M. Holmes of Council Bluffs has been named in a complaint filed Jan. 21 with Bishop Charles W. Jordan in Des Moines.
He and more than 150 other members of the clergy participated in the ceremony that united Ellie Charlton and Jeanne Barnett. The two women, both in their 60s, have lived together for 15 years and have held respected positions in their regional conference. They volunteered when their pastor, the Rev. Don Fado of Sacramento’s St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, said he wanted to lead a public same-sex ceremony as an”act of ecclesiastical disobedience.” Holmes is a clergy member of the Iowa Annual (regional) Conference but is not serving a local church. He has been on disability since 1993.
He is the only Iowa clergy member known to have traveled to California for the ceremony, said George Wylie, Iowa Conference communications director.
The complaint was filed by someone other than the bishop within the Iowa Conference, Wylie said. He declined to be more specific, citing confidentiality, the United Methodist News Service reported.
Holmes is accused of violating the United Methodist Book of Discipline, which states,”Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.” The complaint against him starts a process that would determine if he has disobeyed the”order and discipline”of the denomination. Although the complaint can be resolved in a number of ways, Holmes could face a church trial and possible punishment,including the loss of his ministerial orders.
The complaint marks the latest in an ongoing struggle of the denomination concerning homosexuality. The Rev. Gregory Dell of Chicago is awaiting a church trial for performing a similar union for two men in his congregation last fall.
Update: Trial paints two pictures of Baptist leader
(RNS) Defense attorneys for the Rev. Henry J. Lyons argued that the president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, is a humble leader, not the smooth swindler prosecutors described in opening arguments of his racketeering and grand theft trial in Florida that began Monday (Jan. 26).
Grady Irvin, said Lyons was a”gatekeeper”for a powerful black church body that was courted by white businessmen. Now, Lyons is being held accountable for their failures, he said.”His endorsement of their product was more important than Michael Jordan’s,”the lawyer argued.”They wanted access from the gatekeeper and they were willing to pay for it.” Irvin said that some of the deals made by Lyons and Bernice Edwards, a co-defendant and former denominational public relations director, failed to give the corporations a profit.”He may have made mistakes, but that’s not a crime,”Irvin argued.”And that’s the untold story.” On Tuesday, prosecutors discussed the allegation that Lyons used money that was supposed to help burned black churches for personal reasons, such as love interests, house redecorations and credit card bills.
A videotape was shown of a 1996 ceremony in which Lyons told the Anti-Defamation League that its $225,000 check to help rebuild the burned churches would go swiftly to”the wheels that are squeaking the loudest.””We believed all the money had been expeditiously distributed to the churches in need of rebuilding,”testified Mark Medin, national leadership director of the Anti-Defamation League, who appeared at the trial Tuesday.
Instead, prosecutors say, Lyons deposited $60,000 in a savings account, gave $12,000 to his wife, sent money to love interests in Indiana and Tennessee and spent other portions to redecorate his house and pay off bills.
In addition to the charge of stealing money intended for burned churches, Lyons is charged with grand theft and racketeering and is accused of swindling money from corporations seeking to do business with the convention.
In opening arguments, Lyons’ attorneys said some of the ADL money was kept in bank accounts because Lyons had not decided yet how to distribute it.
Allegations about Seventh-day Adventist president reviewed
(RNS) An ad hoc group of 20 Seventh-day Adventist leaders is meeting in northern Virginia to consider allegations that Adventist President Robert S. Folkenberg engaged in inappropriate business dealings.
The special group began its deliberations after church officials recently learned that Folkenberg and the General Conference of Seventh-day adventists were sued last year by James Moore in Superior Court in Sacramento, Calif.
The ad hoc group was appointed by church administrators to”receive and evaluate information issues that have come to light as a result of the allegations”made by Moore, who church officials describe as a business entrepreneur who has served time in prison for a 1989 grand theft conviction.
Moore seeks $8 million from Folkenberg and others. The church said the General Conference Corporation has not had any dealings with Moore and the Inter-American Division ended its dealing with him in 1989.
At the end of a recent worship service at Adventist headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., Folkenberg said:”… Mr. James Moore has also accused me personally of engaging in acts which he asserts amount to a breach of my fiduciary responsibilities toward the Church.”Folkenberg added that he wanted the ad hoc group to review the situation.
Lawyers representing the officials said the suit is”without merit”and”frivolous a church statement says. The suit by Moore was filed in August, but church officials didn’t receive it until Dec. 28.
Church spokesman Ray Dabrowski told Religion News Service that the group met for 12 hours Monday (Jan. 25) at an airport near Dulles International Airport and heard reports and reviewed documents presented by church attorney Phil Hiroshima. The group, which included international representatives of the church as well as clergy and lay people, also heard from Folkenberg and his lawyer.
Asked if the president’s job is in jeopardy, Dabrowski said:”The committee is looking at any issue that has been brought to their attention. I would not comment on where they are because I actually don’t know what the conclusions of the committee are going to be.” The meeting is scheduled to conclude Tuesday evening and the group is expected to report to the church’s Administrative Committee on Wednesday about their findings.
Folkenberg, 58, who lives in Fulton, Md., was elected in 1990 and was re-elected in 1995. His term ends in the summer of 2000.
Nun killed, Baptist buildings burned in Sierra Leone unrest
(RNS) A nun has been killed and Baptist buildings burned during recent unrest in Sierra Leone.
Pope John Paul II condemned the”barbarous assassination”of Sister Aloysius Maria of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity order. The nun was reportedly killed Friday (Jan. 22) by rebels trying to escape advancing troops in Freetown, the Associated Press reported.
More than 1,100 people have been killed in the weeks-long battle for Freetown.
In addition to killing the nun, the rebels reportedly wounded two other hostages, including a priest.
The rebels escaped with other hostages, including five nuns of the same order and one missionary.
There were conflicting reports that Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Henry Ganda of Freetown and several others had managed to escape their captors, Reuters reported. Ganda was abducted in mid-January.
In a related matter, Moses Khanu, the general secretary of the Baptist Convention of Sierra Leone, has told Baptist World Alliance officials that the convention’s office in Freetown and the Regent Road Baptist Church, also in Freetown, were burned completely by rebels. BWA officials believe the church was the first Baptist church in Africa.
In addition, the European Baptist Mission compound in Freetown survived a bombing and has given neighboring residents a safe haven, BWA reported after learning of the attacks Jan. 21.
Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the BWA, is working to provide food and other aid to the affected communities.
Quote of the day: Southern Baptist writer Erich Bridges
(RNS)”It’s the desperate idol worship people heap on sports stars and other celebrities that reveals the deep spiritual hunger of a material age. Most try to satisfy it with substitutes for the real thing.” Erich Bridges, staff writer of Southern Baptist International Mission Board, writing in a recent analysis of the retirement of basketball celebrity Michael Jordan. His analysis appeared in the Jan. 25 edition of Baptist Press, the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.
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